Secret audio airs in court
SHOCK audio of Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley allegedly assaulting his model ex-girlfriend in a hotel room, while she begs the “evil monster” to stop, has been aired in court.
Gold Coast-based Mr Buckley, 62, faces a Melbourne Magistrates’ Court committal, having pleaded not guilty to charges including stalking, assault and recklessly causing injury.
Jennifer Cruz Cole, a model and nurse, on Tuesday gave evidence about the alleged Crown Towers Melbourne assault on January 18, 2020.
Ms Cole, in a relationship with the car repair magnate at the time, told the court she was on the bed eating M&M’s while Mr Buckley was speaking to her and someone on the phone.
She said she began to secretly record their conversation after becoming fearful.
The 20-minute recording was played to the court in which Mr Buckley can be heard accusing Ms Cole of interfering in a dispute which he says could send him to jail.
“Stop nagging me,” he can be heard yelling. “I want you to go home.” Minutes later, Mr Buckley said: “I’m going to hit you. I’m going to really hurt you. I’m in a bad mood.”
They keep talking about his dispute before he discovered she was secretly recording on her phone.
He tells Ms Cole “you’re not getting your phone back”, with Ms Cole claiming he threw it in a sink and turned on the tap.
She is heard calling him a “monster”, shouting: “You’re fucking going to kill me.”
Thumps, which Ms Cole alleges are sounds made by Mr Buckley punching her face about 10 times, can be heard while she screeches “stop it” and begins to cry. Ms Cole told the court she left the hotel with her suitcase and phone after the alleged assault.
Mr Buckley’s barrister Remy van de Wiel said doctors who examined Ms Cole’s face on January 24 “found not a trace of bruising”. But Ms Cole said she did not agree with that and said she had “internal bruising”.
Details of Mr Buckley and Ms Cole’s relationship, which began in 2017, was aired in court.
“You get punished when you don’t listen to Sean,” she said.
Mr Buckley is also accused of hiring two men to follow her and renting the Melbourne apartment next door to her where cameras were installed to keep her under surveillance.
Co-accused Wade D’Andrea, 40, facing the same committal, is one of the men allegedly hired by Mr Buckley.
Mr Buckley is suing Ms Cole and his ex-worker Anthony Swords over dissemination of the taped recording depicting the alleged assault.
He had sought orders asking the court for a “full and complete list” of everyone sent recordings. But Associate Justice Melissa Daly in December last year rejected the bid, calling it an “impermissible fishing expedition”.
Despite her judgment, the civil case has been delayed until the criminal proceedings have concluded. The committal before Magistrate Andrew McKenna continues.